SAN FRANCISCO, July 29, 2010 - The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) today approved a rail crossing and station at Farmdale Avenue on the Exposition Boulevard Corridor Light Rail Transit Line in Los Angeles County as part of a settlement agreement between Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority (Expo), the Los Angeles Unified School District, and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (L.A. Metro).

The new station will be adjacent to Susan Miller Dorsey High School and will allow for at-grade vehicular and pedestrian crossings with extensive safety procedures and mechanisms. The station will have near-side platforms on both sides of Farmdale Ave. All trains approaching the crossing will stop at the station before entering the crossing, and upon leaving the station all trains will proceed through the crossing at speeds of no more than 15 mph. Expo Authority's initial application asked for an at-grade crossing at Farmdale, but did not include a station or for the trains to slow or stop before entering the crossing.

This station was approved for the new Expo Line that will connect into the county's existing transit system and serve points between downtown Los Angeles, the University of Southern California, and Culver City. For most of the route, the Expo Line will travel along a now unused rail right-of-way in the center median of Exposition Blvd. Once construction is complete, the line will be turned over to L.A. Metro for operations. The L.A. to Culver City project segment subject to today's decision is considered as Phase I. A Phase II is planned for later that would continue the line from Culver City to Santa Monica.

"The Expo line project in general, and the Dorsey High School crossing in particular, generated a heavy amount of public interest. We held several public meetings and hearings and heard from parties and the community in person and in writing," said CPUC Commissioner Timothy Alan Simon, the Commissioner assigned to this proceeding. "I would like to thank everyone for their participation and input because it made for a better result and a safer crossing at Dorsey High School."

Expo Authority filed a series of 10 applications between December 2006 and May 2007 for authority to construct 38 rail crossings along the Phase I line. All 10 of the applications were protested.

In a previous decision (D.07-12-029), the CPUC authorized construction of 36 of the 38 requested crossings. Both of the two remaining crossings, at Harvard Blvd. and Farmdale Ave., are immediately adjacent to school sites. The Foshay Learning Center, a year-round K-12 facility of over 2,000 students, is at Harvard Blvd., and Dorsey High School, with just under 2,000 students, is at Farmdale Ave. Both schools operate under the oversight of the Los Angeles Unified School District. In D.09-02-031, the CPUC approved the Harvard Blvd. crossing, but denied the proposed at-grade crossing at Farmdale Ave. at Dorsey High School. The decision also allowed Expo Authority to file amendments for the Farmdale crossing consistent with the conditions outlined in the decision.

Last July, Expo Authority amended its application for the Farmdale Ave. crossing. The amendment contained four different options for crossing design at Farmdale Ave. Under the guidance of a CPUC Administrative Law Judge, the parties initiated a series of settlement conferences to discuss these design options. The result of those discussions is the settlement agreement approved today.